Hold down clips are used to anchor structural members to the foundation and/or to one another. Such anchoring and interconnection can add stability and improve the structural capacity of the building structure. However, current hold down clips are cumbersome to handle and install, and often require more than one person to effect assembly to an adjacent hold down clip. Accordingly, there is a need for improved hold down clips for assembling metal studs for building walls.
Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure provide a hold down clip, a metal stud assembly structure, and a method for assembling metal studs for building walls. The hold down clip has a base portion containing an elongate slot therein. A leg portion of the clip is orthogonal to the base portion and contains a plurality of bolt holes therein for attaching the leg portion to a metal stud. A reinforcing flange is attached to the leg portion and base portion. A connecting bolt is disposed in a slotted aperture in the base portion for connecting the clip to a floor or to an adjacent metal stud.
Another embodiment of the disclosure provides a stud wall assembly structure. The structure includes a metal stud and a hold down structure attached to the metal stud. The hold down structure has a base portion, a leg portion orthogonal to the base portion, a reinforcing flange attached to the leg portion and base portion, and a connecting bolt disposed in a slotted aperture in the base portion. A plurality of bolt holes are provided in the leg portion of the hold down structure for attaching the leg portion to the metal stud.
Yet another embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for reinforcing a metal stud for building walls. According to the method, a hold down clip is provided. The hold down clip includes a base portion containing an elongate slot therein, a leg portion orthogonal to the base portion containing a plurality of bolt holes, a reinforcing flange attached to the leg portion and base portion, and a connecting bolt disposed in a slotted aperture in the base portion. The leg portion of the hold down clip is bolted to a metal stud using a plurality of bolts.
An advantage of the hold down clip as described herein is that the clip may be more quickly attached to a metal stud using a smaller number of bolts rather than a large number of machine screws. For example, it takes less than half the number of bolts compared to the number of machine screws to fixedly attach the leg portion of the hold down clip to a metal stud. Another advantage of the hold down clip is that the adjacent studs may be assembled together to provide a second level wall by bolting a base portion of the clip to a base portion of a second clip wherein the bolt may be tightened by a single person.